I
have written about this before but it has to be said again. The murderous brutality
showered upon the Palestinians by the Israeli military and Israel’s political
leaders is a travesty beyond, in my opinion, any justification.
Where
are the voices for peace between Arabs and Jews? Where are world leaders saying
enough of this bloodbath between Israel and Palestine? Where is there even a
single recognizable person of influence willing to ask why Israel continues to
destroy Gaza, building by building taking with them the lives of children and
people simply wanting to have a normal life? Where are those voices? There are
none.
I
understand all of the arguments against Hamas and its group of violent
extremists. But there is nothing fair about the imbalance of power between
Israel and Palestine. And why the world is not opposing this I cannot
understand.
Journalist
and author Joshua Frank has made the obvious point that the continuous push of
Israel to ultimately remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip by building more
settlements and by military threats only serve to incite more violence and
mayhem. He writes of the Palestinians, “Living under brutal occupation, decade
after decade, has produced elements of extremism, as was the case of the
kidnapped and murdered Israeli teens. But what of Israel, a so-called beacon of
democracy (even as Israel kills and forces Palestinians off their ancestral
homeland), where a Palestinian boy was burned alive in spiteful revenge? Such
acts only empower and serve as recruitment tools for Hamas.”
Hamas
lobs flimsy missiles into Israel most of them shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome,
a sophisticated air defense system, while Israel deploys ferocious laser beamed
high pay load missiles into Gaza killing everyone and everything in sight.
Although they claim they are giving people warnings ahead of time the death
toll continues to climb. A few minutes warning hardly prepares families to
escape before a vastly superior bomb savagely penetrates the tiny crowded
buildings and narrow streets in Gaza.
The
US continues to support this insanity and President Obama recently said in an
op-ed piece he wrote for one of Israel’s oldest newspapers that America would
continue to unconditionally assist Israel’s defense. Nothing was said about the
Palestinians.
The
Arabs and Jews have been at each other’s throats for centuries. Their fight is over
religious beliefs, land disputes, cultural differences, and just plain pride.
Across
the world the most vulnerable people are being bullied, threatened, and
mercilessly forced into submission by the great powers that once stood for
peace, justice, and world-wide cooperation. The US is one of those powers. As
is Israel.
When
I look at our crippled world and the staggering hordes of oppressed people in
it and the arrogant, domineering powers viciously against them, I cannot help
but think of George Orwell’s frightening doomful prediction, “If you want a
vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
Only
great courage and heart from the oppressed--and determined, compassionate and
intelligent change from the oppressors--will ever make such a portentous vision
invalid.
©
2014 Timothy Moody
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